Human Behavior
by Orenji Kaniku
Summary: Ordinary boys, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy meet at King's Cross Station. A seven-year synopsis of yearly events in the house of Slytherin which occur in first hand letters to mothers and complete strangers. Finished
1. Hesitation

**Title**: Human Behavior   
**Author**:Orenji Kaniku   
**Spoilers**: SS, CoS, PoA, GoF, and OotP   
**Rating**: PG-13   
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter  
**Warnings**: Strong Language, slash, and homosexual prejudice   
**Challenge**: Part of the Ebony and Ivory Challenge #:11. Voldemort never existed, Harry's parents didn't die, and Harry was sorted into Slytherin. (Lirren), 1. A.U. Harry's sorted into Slytherin and falls for his best friend, Draco Malfoy. (Minnie), 93 Draco can't cope with that fact that he's attracted to Harry. (Carawen)   
**Betas**: Yami27, Liger, ChildOfSwords, and my little sister, Monkey4hirenb.   
**Notes**: This story is written in British English. Words like, "shit" are spelled as "shite". It's not a mistake, I swear. I don't know why it's like that, but it's how I was taught. "Berk", is a woman's nether regions, it's basically the worst swear you can call anyone. Equivalent to the American "fuck"? Any questions about the words you have I'll be happy to answer if you need to e-mail me.  
  
_"If you ever get close to a human   
And human behaviour   
Be ready to get confused   
There's definitely no logic   
To human behaviour"-_ Bjork, Human Behavior  
  
**_Chapter One: Hesitation_**

---------------------------------  
  
(1991, September)  
  
"Harry! Darling you're going to be late!" Lily Potter called up the stairs, one hand holding a black bag with a few of Harry's favorite things while the other held onto the ornately carved ball at the end of the stairs. She and her husband were so proud that Harry had gotten into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the very same school they had graduated with honors from years before. She ran a hand through her long red hair and sighed, checking her watch. "James did you pack all of his things in his trunk?"  
  
James Potter, a rather tall and thin man was dragging a trunk by the handle with both hands, his ears turning red underneath his messy black hair. "Yes, dear. His school uniform, pictures of you, and extra socks and kecks. For goodness sakes Lily, he's going to school, not to deactivate land mines in Cambodia." He chuckled, hazel eyes twinkling mirthfully.  
  
"That's not funny." She said before yelling once more, "Harry James Potter!"  
  
"I'm coming Mum! Hold it down!" Harry, age eleven, hurried down the stairs with his new pet, Hedwig. She was a snowy-white owl, with lovely yellow eyes, and had been perched on his shoulder since she'd arrived from his godfather, Sirius Black, two days ago."Where are Uncle Sirius and Remus?"  
  
"They're going to meet us at the station if we're not late!" Lily exasperated. She always had to be the punctual one and always on time. She grabbed her son's hand and they made their way to the fireplace next to the kitchen. Harry made a sound in the back of his throat, Lily looked down to his matching green eyes. "What's the matter, dear?"  
  
"We can travel with all of that stuff?"  
  
"It's been done before," James winked, taking a handful of Floo Powder from a lovely azure ceramic pot that was always placed on a black metal stand. He stepped into the dead fireplace, the big trunk following him after he had cast a mobilis charm on it. He shrunk the trunk and placed it in his pocket before yelling quite clearly, "King's Cross Station!"  
  
Harry watched as his father was engulfed in the green flames, green like his mother's eyes. He never liked to travel by Floo powder. He didn't mind getting dirty, but the soot from the fireplaces took ages to get out of your clothes unless you had a good Scouring Charm; his mother always cast a few as soon as they were to their desired destination.  
  
They traveled quick and fast after arriving through King's Cross extremely busy Floo Powder network. Juggling Harry's school things and debating with his mum whether or not to take the bag that she packed for him, they made it to the platform.  
  
"It's full of things to do on your ride. It can get awfully boring."  
  
"Mum, people are looking!" Harry whispered, his eyes moving to the side where a couple was standing with their own eleven-year-old child. He was sickly pale with a pointy face and white-blonde hair. His eyes were grey, kind of pretty actually. Lily turned her gaze to where her son was pointing with his eyes and frowned.  
  
She never got along with Narcissa in school. James made what sounded like a gag behind his hand and smiled, "Lucius Malfoy, howdy-do?"  
  
Lily held her son close and nodded her head, "Narcissa." She didn't like either of them, but her mother taught her at a very young age to treat people with the respect that you would want to be treated with yourself. It was something that she passed on to Harry at an early age as well.  
  
Harry was studying Lucius and Narcissa's son with extreme interest. "I'm Harry Potter." He held out his hand and smiled softly. The blonde boy raised an eyebrow questioningly as if he'd never been offered a handshake before. Sirius liked to shake hands with Harry all the time, said he had a good grip for a boy as young as he.  
  
"Don't be rude, boy." Lucius said softly, though his stern message was still evident.  
  
"Draco Malfoy." Draco took Harry's hand gently and almost snapped at him when his grip was a bit more than he would have liked. He looked at Harry and knew instantly that he hadn't meant to hurt him.  
  
The train gave a whistle and suddenly both boys found themselves engulfed in their mother's arms.  
  
"Harry, send Hedwig back with a message as soon as you've settled down." Lily kissed him gently on the forehead, "I know you'll have a good time. Hogwarts is one of the best schools. I know that you'll behave yourself. . ." She shot James an inquisitive look. He laughed and slugged his son in the arm.  
  
"WAIT!" Sirius was running through the crowd with a hand on his head to keep his hat from blowing askew and Remus barley keeping up with him. "Dear Harry hasn't said good-bye to his uncles yet," Both men knelt in front of Harry, smiling and panting. "Didn't think you'd leave without getting a good-bye from me, did you?" He hugged the boy tightly; Harry felt as if his godfather squeezed out every breath he had left in him.  
  
Draco muttered a goodbye to his father, hugged his mother quickly, and made his way to the train. He turned back and almost envied the Harry Potter he had just met. He looked so happy.  
  
What Harry didn't know was that Sirius had slipped a little bag of jokes from Gambol and Japes into the black bag his mother had given him for the train.  
  
Remus handed Harry a large bar of his favorite dark chocolate and a novel, "To pass the time."  
  
"Harry, I'd suggest getting on the train. It's going to leave without you." Draco called from over his shoulder.  
  
"Mum, I have to go. I love you!" He hugged her midsection; he was not yet tall enough to reach her neck. She blinked back a few tears and stood next to James, they shook hands like gentlemen departing a meeting before they too engaged in a quick hug. "I love you!" Harry said to his father.  
  
"I love you more."  
  
"Bye Uncle Sirius! Bye Uncle Remus!"  
  
"Get on with it!" Sirius shook the boy's hand and winked, "Got you a few presents in that sack of yours."  
  
"Harry Potter, get a move on!" Draco yelled. His blonde head was halfway out of a window and he was glaring fiercely at him.  
  
"Bye Draco, have a good trip!" Lily called, waving gently. She smiled when Draco blushed and waved quickly before pulling his head back in. "He's a good kid. I can tell."  
  
"Mother's intuition?" Remus asked staring at the train, trying to find a sign of Harry anywhere.  
  
"Women's intuition," Before James could comment, she held up a finger, "Not a word, James."  
  
"Right-o." He hugged his wife tightly and they walked as far as they could with the train, watching as their only son left for a school.

-----  
  
Harry boarded the train without looking back at his family. He hadn't realized how much he would miss them until he had to put Hedwig with the other pets and couldn't find a seat. He knocked softly on each door until he gave up and just stood in the corridor with his arms crossed over his small chest, the black bag on his back serving for a pillow. He was nervous. The longest he'd ever been away from his mum and dad had been a week when Sirius and Remus took him camping and fishing outside of Muggle London. They didn't catch a thing but they had a great time.  
  
"Never been away from home?"  
  
Harry jumped and turned around, bumping into an equally small chest. _Thank God._ Harry didn't know how he would have reacted if he bumped into a second year or worse, a seventh year.  
  
"Watch it!"  
  
Harry pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and gave a weak smile. "Sorry Draco. No, I haven't been away from home completely. It's always been a home away from home." He brushed imaginary hairs from his jumper and leaned against the window.  
  
"You'll get used to it. Give it a few days." Draco said before turning away to return to where his seat was.  
  
"Wait!"  
  
Draco stopped and asked, "What?" Without turning.  
  
"Do you have an open seat?" Harry asked, staring at the back of Draco's plastered head. He wanted to laugh, but if he did he might have to stand the whole way to Hogwarts.  
  
"Follow me."

-----  
  
The first years arrived to Hogwarts and made a very crooked line of first years in between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. The bravest dared to catch peeks of their schoolmates. Harry was idly looking around the Great Hall and tugged on Draco's sleeve, pointing at the ceiling which was very starry with only a few clouds roaming free. "Look!"  
  
"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History." A girl with bushy brown hair whispered, smiling. Obviously she was enjoying the new experience as well.  
  
"Interesting," Harry commented politely.  
  
"Oh shove off. We've got a know-it-all here, Harry. Hogwarts, A History, really." Draco huffed, turning back around.  
  
"Don't mind him, he's just grouchy." Harry said touching the girl's arm gently. "He didn't mean it."  
  
"Granger, Hermione!" the girl with the bushy hair inhaled sharply and clenched her fists.  
  
"Don't be scared." Harry whispered. She smiled at him and went to take her seat underneath the Sorting Hat held by the witch he learned earlier was Professor McGonagall.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
"Now you can read my mind?" Draco hissed.  
  
"Malfoy, Draco." The tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes called; she'd been reading from a very long scroll. Her stern face searched the crowd for Draco. Harry shoved him forward a bit and smiled.  
  
"I know you're scared!"  
  
"I hate you." Draco managed to whisper before making his way to the front with the Sorting Hat. Had Harry been paying attention the whole time he wouldn't have been surprised when the hat suddenly yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" Draco smirked and set off to the table farthest on the left where he was greeted with friendly pats on the back and welcomes.  
  
"Potter, Harry!"  
  
Harry suddenly felt the need to go to the loo. He gave a helpless look towards Draco who mouthed, "Scared?" He glared at the blonde who sniggered and set a determined pace towards the stool.  
  
"SLYTHERIN!" Harry felt his heart leap up to his throat as he jumped from the stool and all but ran to the Slytherin table right next to Draco. The blonde arched an eyebrow and barley withheld a smile.  
  
"What are you so happy about? Don't you know that every witch or wizard who went bad were in this house?"  
  
"You looked pretty happy to be sorted into this house." Harry said resting his chin on his palm.  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Be nice," Harry chided, "Honestly. . . you've been in a mood all day."  
  
"I just don't like people, okay?"  
  
"Well, you seem to like me just fine. . ."  
  
"The feast is getting ready to start, Harry"

-----  
  
They were taken to their dormitories soon after they were finished eating. Harry wasn't surprised to find his things already in his corner of the room by the window. Draco was across the little room. Within talking distance naturally, but it was further away from his new friend than he would have liked.  
  
Draco was changing quickly behind his bed, out of Harry's eyesight.  
  
Harry hummed a ditty and looked out the window as he changed into a pair of boxers and his favorite T-shirt. Hedwig chirped affectionately when he finally set out the little napkin full of cold cuts that he had taken from the Great Hall before the feast was over with. Draco, in his black satin pajama pants and matching button-up shirt leaned against the bedpost and hesitated before saying, "Nice owl."  
  
Harry beamed and shoved his glasses up his nose, "Thanks, her name is Hedwig. I named her."  
  
"I can tell." It wasn't meant as an insult or to be mean, Draco couldn't take the malice out of his voice. It had been so long since he had a friend that wasn't a thirty-year-old in an eleven-year-old's body. Everyone at home, Wiltshire to be exact, were so proper because those were the kind of people that Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy wanted to raise their only child around. He needed to learn poise, dignity, propriety, and distinguish for himself who he should and shouldn't associate with. Meaning if you weren't a full-blooded wizard you weren't worth speaking to. Harry Potter's mother was a Muggle; Draco had heard his mother talking to her odious sister, Bellatrix, about the tainted wizards and witches. It didn't strike Draco as rude when she said it, but now it made him wonder whether or not everything he'd been taught was wrong.  
  
Harry's mother reeked of strong magical powers. Certainly more so than both of his parents.  
  
"I'm going to bed," Draco said suddenly, sliding beneath the silk forest green covers and ignoring Harry when he bid him goodnight.  
  
Harry pet Hedwig gently on the head and slid into bed, and drawing the curtains closed he pulled out his wand, ink, and parchment from the black bag that his mother packed for him. He also pulled out a brown paper bag. Harry beamed, remembering that Sirius had given him a present. Harry nearly cried out when he pulled out a pair of cards that started shuffling themselves almost immediately. There was also an assortment of Stink Pellets, Dung Bombs, and a Nose-Biting Teacup.  
  
"Thanks, Sirius. . . I think."  
  
_September 1, 1991   
Mum and Dad,  
  
I am writing to you when I settled down just like you asked. I was sorted into Slytherin. Draco said that there was not a witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in this house. I was kind of disappointed that I wasn't sorted into Gryffindor because that is the house you, Uncle Remus, and Uncle Sirius were in when you were at Hogwarts. I hope you're not disappointed. I'm glad though that I'm here with Draco, remember the quiet blonde boy at King's Cross Station?  
  
He seems very sad and very grown up. I think we're friends, but he's so cold. It's okay though, the world is full of different people. I can't expect them all to be warm and kind like the people I know now. I love you very much. Tell Uncle Remus and Sirius I said, "Hello."   
Bye then,   
__Harry_

_-----_  
  
_October 3, 1992   
Harry,  
  
I'm very glad you talked Draco into coming over before school started. He looks as if he's doing well. Very polite boy. _Harry rolled his eyes and looked at Draco who was busy reading _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_ by Mirando Goshawk and scrawling notes in his notebook with a look of pure concentration. Hard to believe this boy could make Sixth years cry. "'Polite boy' indeed, mum." _At any rate, Christmas is coming up and I'd wonder if he wasn't doing anything if you could talk him into coming by with you. Nothing bad can stay in the mind with the Potters. What do you say? Oh, and do keep warm, Harry. I know you hate it when I worry, but you need to be careful. I love you very much. Uncle Remus, Father, and Uncle Sirius send their love.   
Bye then,   
Mum_

_-----  
_  
(1992, October)  
  
"Mudblood," Draco hissed, Hermione and her friend had turned the hallway with their books in hand. Hermione froze, almost dropping her books and turned to face Draco, near tears.  
  
"What did you call me?"  
  
"A _Mudblood_. Are you so blemished that you can't even hear me correctly?" Draco antagonized. He didn't even know what had provoked him to start this harassment in the first place. He had heard his mother and father talking about Mudbloods almost all summer until he went to see the Potters two weeks before school like he had done since first year. It was in his system and there was no way for it to get out.  
  
"Stop it!" Hermione's friend, the pudgy and sensitive Neville Longbottom cried. He was still holding his books with one hand and clenching his thick fists in anger.  
  
"What are you going to do? I've seen you in Charms, Longbottom. You couldn't hex me even if I directed you through every procedure necessary."  
  
Neville's brow furrowed with anger and embarrassment.  
  
"Leave him alone!" Hermione shrieked, immediately forgetting her own persecution.  
  
Harry was wandering through the halls, trying to remember the correct ingredients for Professor Snape's Swelling Solution and the antidote, the Deflating Draught. All he could remember were the mandrakes. He didn't think they were something you could really forget. He scratched his ear in pure nervous bewilderment and stopped.  
  
"_Densaugeo_!"  
  
"Crikey!" Harry began to run down the corridor until he ran right into the back of Draco. He knew it was Draco because he could smell the cologne Narcissa had bought Draco for his birthday last year; he thought it smelled like incense. "Draco?"  
  
Hermione was in tears. Neville was holding stiffly to his wand, and when Harry turned Draco around to look at him, he couldn't tell whether he wanted to laugh or worry about him.  
  
"He called me a Mudblood and said Neville couldn't hex him even if he were to instruct him and it just went from there." Hermione blubbered; her feelings were hurt and she was overwhelmed with the warm empathy for Neville, for she knew Snape would not let this go unnoticed; he was very protective over his Slytherins. She only wished she were the one to think of the teeth-growing curse. Honestly, she didn't know how Harry Potter got sorted into the Slytherin house, or why he was friends with Draco Malfoy. They were complete opposites.  
  
"Are you both okay? Physically?" Harry asked, scanning them over.  
  
They nodded.  
  
Draco was near tears and he was trying to shout curses at them, his wand raised and aimed right at Hermione rather than Neville. Harry took the wand away from Draco and turned to his friends once more, "Go to Professor McGonagall and tell her what happened. I'm going to take him to Madam Pomfrey- STOP MOVING DRACO!"  
  
Draco was angry. He didn't like being in Harry's arms, nor did he like being hexed.  
  
"Stop moving Draco!"  
  
"Ef gon'tch gneed ger elp!"  
  
"I don't care if you don't need my help you big ferret. I'm taking you to Madam Pomfrey whether you like it or not." Harry's hands clutched tighter to Draco's robes so that he found it quite fruitless to keep struggling against him.  
  
"Gine." Draco muttered; his teeth were passed his collar. He made no attempt to cover them up because it seemed to make them grow even faster. He looked at Harry's profile, his jaw was set, like he was trying not to say something. Harry's unruly black hair fluttered softly as they walked passed the empty classrooms to the Hospital Wing.  
  
"Harry are you feeling ill ag- oh my," the middle-aged nurse took Draco from Harry's arms and set him on the bed. "A bit of a shrinking potion should do the trick."  
  
Harry waited for her to ask what had happened but she didn't. Draco choked down the potion and Harry waited outside the screen on a chair, picking at lint on his robes. "Can you talk now?"  
  
"I dohn't vant to talk to vu."  
  
"Too bad. Why did you call her that?" Harry asked, glaring at the silhouette of Draco's head from behind the privacy screen, wishing he had something to bash him over the head with. "Why did you say those things to Neville?"  
  
"Vecause ish vhat she is and ish froo-"  
  
"I don't want to hear your load of cock and bull, Draco. What in the hell is your problem? My mother isn't a full-blooded witch. Are you going to call her that too? Is that what you think she is? Is that what you think _I_ am?"  
  
Draco laid down on his cot and curled up against the extra pillow Madam Pomfrey had given him. He always needed something to curl up against at night so that he wouldn't feel lonely.  
  
"_Well_? Are you going to answer me? I'd really like to hear what you have to say." Harry was getting very angry now. "You know what? I don't even want to hear it!"  
  
Draco listened to Harry's footsteps trail away and closed his eyes when Harry shut the door.  
  
"Chocolate?" Madam Pomfrey offered.  
  
"Ves, pvleaf," Draco took the little pieces of chocolate and fit them around his large two front teeth and chewed thoughtfully.

-----  
  
When Draco finally went to the dorm, the boys were all asleep. Harry's drapes were closed but Draco knew he wasn't asleep.  
  
"I don't think you're a Mudblood."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes, but he didn't move or talk.  
  
"I just don't like Granger or Longbottom. I never have. Do you ever just get the feeling that you don't like someone but you don't know why? No, I guess not. Your mum probably raised you to treat everyone as you would like to be treated, didn't she?" Draco laughed humorlessly and began to undress for bed. "I'm not nice because I don't have to be. I find no prospect in being nice so I don't waste time with it. It's as simple as that. You can be my friend, that's fine. I don't mind your friendship but I'm not going to bend over backwards just because you have more than one friend and they can't take my criticism."  
  
This time, Harry did sit up and pull the curtains back. Draco was pulling on a pair of pajama pants, Harry's nose was running because he hadn't been feeling well. He sniffed, startling Draco into whirling around and catching hold of his bedpost to keep from tripping.  
  
"Are you crying?" Draco asked in disbelief.  
  
"No, I'm sick."  
  
"I barley saw you six hours ago, Harry."  
  
"Sinuses," Was this concern that he heard in Draco's voice? _Be still my beating heart,_ Harry thought humorously  
  
Draco shrugged and leaned against his bed. "I'm not sorry for calling her that, you know?"  
  
"I don't expect you to be." Harry muttered turning back around.  
  
"Can I have my wand back?" Draco asked, holding out his hand expectedly.  
  
"No, you really pissed me off."  
  
"I'll tell Professor Snape."  
  
"You go right ahead and tell him," Harry sniffed indignantly.  
  
"I'm serious, Harry, give me the wand."  
  
"NO."  
  
"IT'S MINE!" Draco leapt onto the bed and tried to reach under the pillow where he knew Harry was keeping it. The other boys were waking up. Gregory Goyle was groaning with irritation and hurled a pillow at the both of them.  
  
"Shut your gob! I'm trying to get some sleep!"  
  
"SHUT UP GOYLE!" They both yelled.  
  
"Give it to me!"  
  
"No! Gerroff me!" Harry screamed, his legs trying in vain to kick Draco off of him. It was effortless and he clamped his mouth onto Draco's arm, which had been slithering towards his pillow for the wand.  
  
"You just bit me!" Draco yelled. He reared his head back and bit Harry on the neck, the first available patch of skin he could reach.  
  
Gregory Goyle, Naiara Amarillo, Vincent Crabbe, and Oakley Preston were sitting up in their beds completely awake by now with looks of what could have been amusement or annoyance or both.  
  
"Fancy a flutter on Harry," Naiara whispered.  
  
"A sickle on Draco." Crabbe said with pride. His mother had sent him a sickle because he had asked Marcus Flint to bring him back a bag of sweets when he went to Hogsmeade; he was most fond of the licorice wands.  
  
Goyle chuckled, "Two on him."  
  
"I don't know, Draco has a mean kick," Oakley said before adding, "Not that I know or anything."  
  
"GIVE ME THE GODDAMN WAND!"  
  
Harry wiggled out of Draco's headlock and scrambled for the door into the empty common room. Draco followed, as did the other boys in their dorm room. Draco hurled a book he found on the desk, sending it crashing into a candle and onto the stone floor.  
  
"Are you going to keep making fun of my friends?" Harry asked holding the wand tightly in his right fist.  
  
"YES!"  
  
"I'm not giving it to you until you give me your word that you will not call anyone that name ever again. It's rude and downright mean," Harry said calmly studying the wand. "You don't really have a choice, wands _do_ happen to burn in fires you know. . ." To further prove his point, Harry inched the wand over the dying flames.  
  
Slytherin, indeed.  
  
"FINE!"  
  
"Why are you still up?" a soft velvety, but equally menacing voice asked from behind them. Harry jumped at the sight of the Slytherin Headmaster and dropped the wand.  
  
"Shite!" Harry yelled, almost diving into the fireplace to save the wand.  
  
"SHITE!" Draco cursed, running towards both Harry and his wand.  
  
"_Accio_ wand," Snape called calmly, the wand flung itself into his hand, "_Impedimenta_!"  
  
Harry was shaking, frozen over the flames. Draco grabbed his arm and pulled him back and shoved him onto the black leather chair nearest them. "You're a berk!"  
  
Harry had not yet composed himself. Snape, in his normal black robes rose an eyebrow. "Boys, you're twelve years old. Is there really such a need for language like that? What is going on?"  
  
"He called my friend a Mudblood-"  
  
"She is!"  
  
"SHUT UP!"  
  
"YOU STARTED IT!"  
  
"_ENOUGH_!" Snape roared, both boys froze and looked at him with eyes as wide as saucers. "Now, clearly I cannot leave you two alone without trying to work at some kind of mischief. I heard about the event earlier today concerning your teeth, Mr. Malfoy-"Draco blushed. "Now, I don't like having to referee petty fights, but I dislike inconsequential name calling even more."  
  
"Inconsequential! Did you not hear what he called her?" Harry yelled hotly, "He might as well have called her a _fucking_ Mudblood!"  
  
"Silence! As much as I'd hate to I'm getting dangerously close to taking a point away from this house for your cheek, Potter," Draco shot Harry a glare. He wanted to win the House Cup almost as badly as Harry. "You had better settle your diffrences quickly and quietly or I'll be forced to take action. Go to sleep. It's near midnight, all of you." Snape said curtly, turning to look at the awakened students who were lined up on the stairs and the corridors leading separately to the boy and girl's dormitories.  
  
Draco took his wand gingerly from Snape and they walked silently to their beds with the rest of their housemates, none of which dared to ask either what had happened.  
  
"You owe me a sickle. Draco got his wand back." Crabbe whispered to both Goyle and Naiara. They looked at each other and back at him,  
  
"You never said anything about Professor Snape stepping in, no one won. We owe you nothing."  
  
"Botheration."  
  
"I can't believe you bit me." Draco said, putting his wand protectively underneath his pillow once they were in their dorm rooms. In all honesty, he was kind of proud of Harry for ruthlessly fighting with him. It was fun.  
  
"Slytherin." Harry sang, sinking into his bed gratefully.  
  
Draco smiled softly and fingered his wrist where Harry had bitten him.

-----  
  
(1993, November)  
  
Harry had been in Madam Pomfrey's care for more than two weeks. The Witch Nurse didn't seem to let Harry stay conscious for more than an hour at a time with her various potions and Snape's sporadic surveillance.  
  
Draco came in after lunch when he was supposed to be in his Potion's class. He set his bag by the door and took a seat by Harry who was –surprise, surprise- sleeping.  
  
"Wake up," He poked Harry's side with the tip of his wand. "Harry!" Harry groaned and turned his back to Draco. "That was intentional."  
  
Harry's back trembled and he heard a splat on the ground. Draco stood immediately from his chair and cleared his throat. "Ah, well. . . I'll get Madam Pomfrey."  
  
"Don't go." Harry said, his voice so soft Draco had thought he imagined it. "Rub my back, please? Mum does it when I get sick." Draco would have given him a smart remark about how he wasn't Harry's mum, nor did he think she asked to be his mother or to rub his back when he retched all over the floor, but he didn't. Very reluctantly did Draco sit on the bed and lay his hand over Harry's back. His hand moved violently with Harry's back as the boy retched again. Draco watched Harry's face turn red with strain and for once in his life he was sorry he had to see him like this. Whenever Harry got sick he never visited him in the Hospital Wing as he had today. He usually waited it out, no matter how long it was.  
  
"The first Quidditch match is over," Draco said, trying to make small talk. The room was quiet with so few patients. Harry and a Ravenclaw Seventh year, Jaclyn Soliel.  
  
"Who won?"  
  
"Slytherin, naturally. I can't believe you have to ask me that." Draco smiled when Harry's back shook with light laughter.  
  
"Harry- Mr. Malfoy!" Madam Pomfrey almost dropped the vial of green potion freshly brewed from the look of the steam rising from the top. With her free hand she shook a finger at him. "You should know full and well that I don't allow free visits in my Hospital Wing! Why aren't you in class?"  
  
"I came to see how my friend was doing and to give him his Potion's homework. Please, don't let me interrupt what disgusting concoctions you plan to shove down his throat at the moment. I'm sure he'd rather talk to you than me. . ." Draco drawled, getting up and leaving, but not before squeezing Harry's shoulder.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy come back here immediately! I'll have you know I'll talk to Professor Snape about this!"  
  
"Go ahead." Draco called out before shutting the door.  
  
Madam Pomfrey let out a squeal of frustration before setting Harry up so she could force him to drink. "Honestly, that boy. . ."  
  
"Is a puzzle, I know." Harry smiled.

-----  
  
Hedwig flew through the open window and onto Draco's desk, where he had been writing an essay on werewolves.  
  
"Hi, Hedwig." He took the parchment attached to her leg and sighed with relief. He'd been working on the essay for a little more than two hours. Two feet of parchment, really. . . Quirrell had gone mad.  
  
_Draco,  
  
Come pick me up. Madam Pomfrey says I can leave.  
  
Harry  
_  
"Thanks, bird," Draco ran a hand through his hair and ignored Hedwig's offended chirps.

-----  
  
Draco marched into the Hospital Wing with a big smile on his face and plans to drink the Ogden's Old Firewhisky his father had sent him, just because. He ignored Madam Pomfrey's glares. Draco had been sent to detention where he wrote, "I will not disrespect the school nurse.", a hundred times and helped Professor Snape with the batches of Pepperup Potion he'd promised Madam Pomfrey. He had a good time actually. A couple days of detention with Snape was a fair price to pay for telling Madam Pomfrey, he thought. He'd had fun during both events.  
  
"Well Harry, this makes your sick leave a grand total of two weeks and three days. Honestly. . . spanner, you are." Draco honestly thought Harry looked like crap. He'd lost weight from throwing up anything he was brave enough to eat and he was pale from being hidden underneath thick blankets all day.  
  
"You better be glad I'm feeling good," Harry warned, taking hold of Draco's arm.  
  
"This is good?"  
  
"Shut your gob."  
  
They made it back to the dormitory in one piece. Harry was too tired to keep up a good argument with Draco so they just walked to the dungeons in silence.

-----  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Draco frowned and pulled back the covers. "For what?" He rolled Harry onto the bed and tucked him in as gently as Mrs. Potter did to them when he stayed over during the summer break. They would eat watermelon and camp in Muggle England. Draco had even taken a liking to hamburgers, which his own mother never let him eat because cows were a "lowly creature". He had grown farther and farther away from his family the more he spent time with the Potters.  
  
"For taking care of me," Harry reached for Draco's wrist and held onto him until he relaxed into sleep. Harry had forgotten to take off his glasses again.  
  
"I should let you break them in your sleep," Draco murmured, taking them off with his free hand and setting them on the nightstand by the bed. He crawled into bed with the other boy, not wanting to take his wrist out of reach. He murmured a spell, closing the curtains to his bed curtains so that the other boys would think he had turned in early and was in his own bed. It wasn't yet dinnertime and no one was in the common room except a paranoid first year, Maddox Hamilton, who was busy reading study guides and hadn't even noticed them walk in.  
  
Draco laid down on his side and wiggled until he was comfortable. "In any other circumstance I would have been glad to yank my wrist out of your grip and woken you up," He whispered, "You're lucky I like you as much as I do."  
  
Harry sighed and nuzzled Draco's neck, sending shivers up his spine and making the hairs on his neck stand up. He was getting ready to slide out of the bed and leave before Harry coughed violently and shivered.  
  
"Very lucky," Draco tucked the covers as tightly around Harry as he could and closed the curtains to the bed before falling asleep, Ogden's Old Firewhisky all but forgotten.

-----  
  
"Can you swim to the other side of the lake and back?" Fifth year Gryffindor, George Weasley challenged.  
  
Draco rolled his eyes and looked at him from beneath lazy lids. "I won't, will I? Would you?"  
  
"Dozens of times with my brother, Fred." As if on cue, an identical mold of George strolled by and hung over his brother's shoulders, grinning stupidly at the blonde in front of him. Draco would have bet a Galleon that they had this planned and that Fred's arrival wasn't just coincidental.  
  
"Then you both won't mind that I suggest we all take a dip in the lake."  
  
"If both of us have to jump in, you have to chose another contestant."  
  
"What's the prize?" Draco asked, crossing his arms.  
  
"Three Galleons."  
  
Draco sneered, "Do you even _have_ three galleons? I know you, Weasley. The family with more children than they can afford-"  
  
"We don't have to discuss our financial status with a ferret-face like you, Malfoy. Are you going to compete or not?" George cut him off.  
  
"Count me in."  
  
"Tonight. We'll make the necessary arrangements for you to get out of your House without being detected and you will be at the lake to await further instructions." Fred said before both brothers turned on their heels and strode off.

-----  
  
"Do you have any idea how cold that lake is, Draco?" Harry groaned diving under the covers and digging his head underneath the pillow. "You're absolutely mad!"  
  
Draco grinned, pulled the pillow off, and smacked him on the head with it. "Scared?"  
  
"No, I just want to live to see fourteen."  
  
"You jump in, swim to the other side, and back. What the hell is the big deal?"  
  
Harry sat up and grabbed his hand, leading him to the window. He slapped the blonde's hand on the glass. A ring of fog slowly formed around the boy's long digits. "THAT! Do you feel how cold it is outside?"  
  
"If you don't want to go, fine. I'll get Goyle or Naiara to go with me." He thought for a moment before saying, "I'll get Goyle or Crabbe to come with me. Naiara is probably smart enough not to step in that lake. Have you seen the water? It's absolutely disgusting! I'll be washing my hair for hours." Draco touched his head of feather-soft hair with a look of pure terror.  
  
"I didn't say I wasn't going to go. I think you're a complete git for doing this to me. How did this happen?" Harry asked as they made their way down to the Great Hall for lunch as Draco explained what happened. When he got to the harassment of the twins Harry punched him in the arm, hard.  
  
"You moron! What was that for?"  
  
"What did I tell you about making fun of my friends?" Harry yelled.  
  
Draco rubbed his arm and mentally checked that his wand was safely in his pocket. "The Weasley Twins are your friends too? Mr. Congeniality, you are. Honestly, I can't be mean to half the school without you getting after my arse."  
  
"Why don't you try and be nice to someone for a change?" Harry asked as he started walking.  
  
"Too easy."  
  
"Could have fooled me. Being nice to you is a great deal of work sometimes."  
  
"Hey, it's real hard work being mean all day, every day. You should try it and then you would have sense enough not to give me any grief about it."  
  
"I don't want to be mean to people," Harry said curtly.  
  
"Well, I don't want to be nice to people," Draco shot back. They glared at each other before entering the Hall, where students were busy talking and eating happily. Their tension was barley enough to turn a few heads of even the most clairvoyant.  
  
They sat down shoulder to shoulder and helped themselves to steak and kidney pie, chips, and hot chocolate to finish. Eating in silence, they didn't take their eyes off their plates or mentioned anything of the lake until they slipped out of their beds with Harry's father's invisibility cloak that he had given him before they started third year in the summer.

-----  
  
Fred had knocked five times with a three-second pause between knocks and whistled, "God Save the King", before Harry and Draco could leave the dungeons. All four boys fit rather uncomfortably underneath the cloak. They had set off the Dung Bombs that Harry had given them, unused from Uncle Sirius but still good enough to great a diversion.  
  
"Don't touch me!" Draco hissed when a twin's elbow jabbed him in the side.  
  
"Believe me, it's no pleasure."  
  
"Boys. . ." Harry warned. They made their way silently to the lake where the cloak was finally discarded and they stripped down to swimming shorts. They made a show of folding their clothes neatly and piling them up perfectly on the bank. Neither pair wanted to go first so they decided in the end to jump in all at once.  
  
Harry's body refused to move for a full five heartbeats before Draco yelled his name, "Get a move on, Potter!" He knew how much Harry hated being called solely by his last name. The pain was sharp in his chest, but he ignored it and kept swimming.  
  
Draco turned his head and watched as Harry moved, flailing his arms wildly, trying to get this over with as fast as possible. He didn't blame the other boy; he was regretting ever letting his pride get in the way of a perfectly good Saturday night. He should have been in the common room with a cup of hot chocolate and a mystery novel.  
  
The Weasley twins weren't turning around yet, they intended to make it to the other side and back just as they agreed. So did he.  
  
He couldn't feel his toes as he swam, but he expected it was because it was so cold. If he kept his body moving he would be just fine. The twins were slowing down to a halt as they got to the other side of the bank. Draco would have grinned if he weren't feeling so ready to stop himself. He didn't think he was going to finish. So what if he lost three Galleons? His father had loads of them.  
  
The four boys made it to the opposite bank, shivering and pale.  
  
"H-h-how ab-bout-t we call it a d-d-draw?" Fred stammered, curling up in a ball on the bank.  
  
"Sounds g-g-good. . ." Draco replied.  
  
"Y-you s-s-uck." Harry hissed, barley crawling out of the lake. They all curled up against the warmth of each other's bodies.  
  
They didn't know how long they were lying there. They tried not to fall asleep. Draco was clutching to Harry so tightly that the feeling almost came back into his numb fingers. They vaguely felt themselves being wrapped in warmth. There were voices all around them.

-----  
  
_"No one is dead until warm and dead."_  
  
_"Severus! Hot chocolate, straight away!"_  
  
_"Botheration, why did it have to be Potter? He's already delicate as it is."_  
  
In the back of their minds they heard voices of Madam Pomfrey shouting orders, Professors McGonagall and Snape cursing their students and worrying out loud. Headmaster Dumbledore calmly spoke to the students brought in to supply necessary body heat. Ginny Weasley and Ron Weasley were brought in to lie with their brothers while Percy Weasley slid into Harry's cot and Ravenclaw Prefect, Mace Labdhi, shared Draco Malfoy's.  
  
_"You have specific orders not to tell any of your school mates what has happened, do you four understand me?"  
  
"Yes, Professor Dumbledore."_  
  
The volunteers were allowed to leave almost immediately as they awoke one after another. George looked almost bedazzled to be in the Hospital Wing. Fred made a show of wiggling his toes and fingers. Draco immediately searched for Harry and was disappointed to find that he was dozing in the cot next to him.  
  
"It's not healthy for him to sleep that much!" Draco called out after he'd been given a large mug of hot chocolate.  
  
"It's not healthy for the four of you to be swimming in the lake in November!" Madam Pomfrey shrieked, "You all had moderately severe hypothermia! Least of all Potter, his immune system is weak! How could you do this to him? Really! Irresponsibility!"  
  
Draco didn't say anything. He turned and stared at Harry who seemed to be resting comfortably, but his fresh peach complexion had been reduced to a very cold beige. "I want to talk to Professor Snape." Madam Pomfrey had a talent for making Draco feel like he couldn't do anything right. He was the only patient she seemed to look down on whenever he had to come to the Hospital Wing.  
  
"Poppy, that will be quite enough,"  
  
Fred and George inhaled sharply before recomposing themselves, "Hi, Professor Dumbledore."  
  
"Good evening, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Weasley." The tall old man in flowing purple robes smiled at each of the twins and finally turned to Draco. "Ah, Mr. Malfoy, so we meet at last."  
  
"Yes, it would seem so." Draco said warily. His teachers had threatened to send him to the headmaster before. He'd only seen the old man at the Sorting Ceremonies, mealtimes, and at the Leaving Feasts. He didn't think Headmaster Dumbledore did anything of real importance but make an appearance every now and then. "Am I going to get expelled?"  
  
Dumbledore smiled and chuckled, his blue eyes twinkling behind half-moon spectacles, "Not today, Mr. Malfoy. Not today. I'm here to talk about what happened as you may have already guessed." He took a seat in front of all four beds, glancing only momentarily at Harry's bed. Draco felt a tinge of jealousy, as he always did when anyone looked at Harry with the need to protect in their eyes. Dumbledore genuinely cared about Harry. He could see it. Draco decided this man was not someone he should be making friends with.  
  
"Yes, I did."  
  
Dumbledore ignored the hostility in Draco's voice and cleared his throat before moving on. "Exactly what did happen to provoke such an odd exploit?"  
  
George started explaining how he met Draco in the hallway, Fred picked up with details on the actual plan. Dumbledore chuckled and put in his own remarks, "I remember my youth at this very same school-"  
  
"Professor!" Madam Pomfrey shrieked.  
  
Dumbledore smiled and cleared his throat once more. Draco thought it made him look stupid. "At any rate, what you have done is extremely reckless even for you two," the twins flushed, "but what matters is that you four are alive." He glanced quickly at the sleeping Potter and back to each of the boy's eyes, "I think you have suffered enough, wouldn't you say?" He got up and moved the chair back against the desk in between Draco and Harry's cots. "Of course, we will have to send your parents letters of notice because that is school policy."  
  
Fred and George visibly winced.  
  
"I'll try and give you a heads up before a Howler is sent your way, boys."  
  
"Professor, about Harry-"  
  
"I think it is a talk long overdue between the both of you. He will live, if that's what you mean to ask. I would not lie to you about such a thing." Dumbledore smiled lightly, "Good day, Mr. Malfoy. Do get better soon."

-----  
  
"Harry, for God's sake, would you just wake up already? You're acting like a complete sloth." Draco murmured. He tilted his head thoughtfully and for the first time realized that he had never really taken time to study the boy's beautifully plain features. His long lashes sometimes squashed themselves on the lenses of his glasses, splitting apart to reveal his stunning green eyes. How could he have overlooked this when they first met? Draco wanted to touch Harry's face which was a little blemished with pimples that naturally came to even the cleanest of faces in their adolescent years. He would have thought this would make him a little unattractive but he found it most endearing.  
  
Another part of Harry Potter.  
  
"Draco. . ."  
  
Draco jumped and relaxed instantly when he found that Harry was only talking in his sleep. His eyes trailed over Harry's throat where he had bitten him last year. He chuckled at the memory. The two of them wrestling on Harry's bed over a wand. It nearly cost him the wand and Harry's perfect skin.  
  
Draco wasn't falling for his best friend. He didn't like boys. It wasn't wrong, Oakley found an almost unsettling attraction to Professor Snape. Homosexuality was so overrated that it gave people something to talk about when they saw a man or woman holding hands with another man or woman. Wizarding World or not, it wasn't something that was usually taken lightly among society.  
  
He resisted the urge to climb into the cot with Harry, delicate Harry.  
  
_"You all had moderately severe hypothermia! Least of all Potter, his immune system is weak! How could you do this to him? Really! Irresponsibility!"_  
  
Draco frowned and touched Harry's cheek with a warm hand. That had been three weeks ago. Harry, himself, and the twins were released last week.  
  
"Congratulations, Harry, your sick leave grand total is three weeks even as of November 25, 1993. Aren't you going to have a load of work to polish off when you get out?" Draco sighed and turned to leave. Eating away at him was the urge to touch Harry once more. "Codswallop!" Draco marched over to Harry's cot and gently kissed him on the mouth before running out of the Hospital Wing wiping his face on his sleeve.  
  
Harry, faking a nap rose slowly into a sitting position and reached for his glasses. "Oh, Holy Jesus. . ."  
  
_**To Be Continued. . . **_


	2. Neglect

**Title**: Human Behavior   
**Author**: Orenji Kaniku   
**Spoilers**: SS, CoS, PoA, GoF, and OotP   
**Rating**: PG-13   
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter   
**Warnings**: Strong Language, slash, and homosexual prejudice   
**Summary**: Ordinary boys, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy meet at King's Cross Station. A seven year synopsis of yearly events in the house of Slytherin which occur in first hand letters to mothers and complete strangers. Is the struggle to do what's right any different in the Wizarding world than in the Muggle?   
**Challenge**: Part of the Ebony and Ivory Challenge #:11. Voldemort never existed, Harry's parents didn't die, and Harry was sorted into Slytherin. (Lirren), 1. A.U. Harry's sorted into Slytherin and falls for his best friend, Draco Malfoy. (Minnie), 93 Draco can't cope with that fact that he's attracted to Harry. (Carawen)   
**Betas**: Yami27, ChildOfSwords, Liger, and my little sister, Monkey4hirenb   
**Notes**: On Draco's birthday, I looked in the Harry Potter Lexicon and didn't find it anywhere! So I made it up. If anyone has a clue as to what it might be please do tell me, I'd appreciate it!  
  
I also want to thank Care for reviewing. It made my day.   
And as for Lady Kaylan Noelle, as stated in my email, I do appreciate your opinion and please understand that some English families do have different ways of saying words. I must say that it is my mistake that I made it out to say that all English folk use those words. It is not true. I apologize for my misjudgment in making that mistake.  
  
_"There's no map  
And a compass  
Wouldn't help at all  
Human behaviour."-_ Bjork, Human Behavior  
  
_**Chapter Two: Neglect**_

-------------------------------  
  
(1994, December)  
  
_December 1, 1994   
Hello,  
  
I just need someone to talk to until I can figure all of this out. I told the owl, which does not belong to me, to give this to whoever she could. The barn owl's name is Hera; I don't know why she was named after a Maternity Goddess.  
  
Last year in November we both were sick with hypothermia because I decided to take a bet which involved swimming in an extremely cold lake under harsh weather. We did not win and Haven, my friend, had it in worse because he isn't very healthy. I learned this while we were in the Hospital Wing and I was hacked off because he never told me in the first place. I kissed him while he was sleeping and ran off. It was never brought up again.  
  
We usually spend the last week of summer holiday together at his house. His mum makes big meals because we're 'two growing boys'. We slept in the same room and sometimes the same bed when it was storming because honestly, I never really did like the sound crashing thunder made over my head at night when I dreamed about monsters and mass murderers.  
  
It wasn't storming but Haven sat up in bed and tossed a pillow at me, waking me up. I was very angry and tired,  
  
"What?" I growled. He asked me if I wanted to sleep with him tonight. I stared at his silhouette and rolled over to make room for him, "You're the one who has to move, I'm tired."  
  
Haven didn't say anything. He just moved to my bed with his own pillow because I like one for my head and one to curl up with. I woke up and we were all over the place. His head was resting on my collarbone, his mouth against my skin, slobbering all over the place. His feet were between my legs and dangling over the side. I suppose we would have made sort of an X- looking position.  
  
Before I came over, my dad told me that men were not meant to bed men, only women. If they were supposed to then both sexes would be able to have children. I don't know why he said this to me, but I knew it was disappointing to him that I only spent valuable time with a boy instead of flirting with girls my own age. I turn fourteen January third. I never really thought about girls, just Haven. I guess I really never had a reason to think about girls because he was always there.  
  
It's so confusing that I don't know what I want anymore. My body wants him, but my mind is screaming at me not to touch him. He's like sweet poison.  
  
Last week was the first task for the Triwizard Tournament. Our champion is a Hufflepuff named Cedric Diggory. Quite honestly, I wouldn't be too surprised if Hogwarts did lose this tournament because of him. They had to try to steal a golden egg from the mother dragon. Dancing with fire, all three of them. The next tournament is in February, if I'm lucky I'll be in the Hospital Wing with a deadly disease.  
  
It's not the same when a Champion from your own house isn't competing. It has nothing to do with school pride; it's all about the pride of the separate houses. I'm a prat, I know, but you can't say you wouldn't be disappointed if it hadn't been your house.   
From,   
Delano_  
  
Draco had awakened especially early so that he could send off the letter without being late to any of his classes. He had written a dozen letters, he counted them every time he ripped each up into pieces and cast a disappearing charm over all of the little pieces. Every time his quill bled black ink onto the parchment he felt like his heart was being squeezed until he could no longer write any more.  
  
He came to the owlry every day to pick out the most inconspicuous owl he could find. Hera was an ordinary barn owl with the plainest features he had ever seen. He didn't want to touch her at first; what if he got a disease? Very carefully with one of Harry's handkerchiefs over his hand, he beckoned the brown owl to the perch in front of him. He attached the letter to her leg and almost screamed when she moved her head around to help him as he fumbled with only one hand.  
  
He took a treat from the box by the door and fed her (hand still hidden beneath the handkerchief) before shooing her off to mail the letter. Draco didn't know whom she was going to give it to or when it would get there. Would they send a reply back with her? Would they even care? He knew if he were to receive an anonymous letter of such a nature he would toss it in a fire.  
  
He sighed as he watched Hera disappear into the rising sun. He was tired, not hungry, and irritated. He was irritated because every time he looked at Harry, his green eyes were so wistful it made him want to cast a Cheering Charm on the pathetic fool.  
  
It had been a very long year for the both of them. They had each and every class together; it was intentional because they went over their schedules carefully trying to get the same classes at the same times last year. This was when things were still the same.  
  
Draco went to the Great Hall where students were already getting started on early breakfasts. It was a couple weeks before the end of the term. Draco had planned to stay with his parents the whole break instead of visiting Harry and his family the last week of break as he had done since first year.  
  
He was getting started on a bowl of porridge when Harry came to the table. The boy sat by his side like he'd done for the last four years and focused on a cup of tea. He burnt his tongue drinking it and shoved it away. Draco tried not to look at Harry from the corner of his eye as he heard him butter a piece of toast and toss it on his plate. He didn't hear munching or crunching from the boy beside him, just silence.  
  
Draco himself was also poking at his food. He reached for the coffeepot and nearly jumped out of his skin when Harry moved his hand towards the bowl of fruit for a banana, right next to the coffee pot.  
  
Harry stood up and grabbed Draco by the collar, "Come with me, now."  
  
"I'm eating!" Draco hissed, trying to pull himself away from the other boy's grasp, but he only got jerked back. "You're going to stretch it!" He didn't take heed that the students that had woken up one time (only a quarter of the student body) were staring at them.  
  
"If you're worried about your shirt then I suggest you come with me before I rip it."  
  
Draco grabbed a muffin and complied. He really didn't have a choice because Harry never did let go of his collar. When they were finally out of the Great Hall Draco shoved the other boy away. "I'm not a dog!"  
  
"What the hell is your problem? I've been patient in taking your silent abuse but I've had it. What did I do?" Harry was on the opposite wall with his hands crossed over his chest. His eyes were like emerald fire; he was pissed.  
  
Draco shrugged and started walking away, but Harry would have none of it.  
  
"_Impedimenta_!" Draco found himself unable to move. His eyeballs screwed around to catch sight of Harry as he tapped his mouth with the tip of the wand.  
  
"You're going to get it for this!"  
  
"Be quiet!" Harry held his wand stiffly in his hand and Draco knew he was dancing with a good hexing. They'd both read the books on Dark Arts that Draco's father had in his library. They knew what they could and couldn't, or rather shouldn't, use in a wand fight. Harry didn't look too compromising at the moment. "Since you won't tell me what has happened, I'm going to pry."  
  
"What? With a game of twenty questions?"  
  
"That's exactly what I'm going to do," In all honesty, Harry didn't know how to play Twenty Questions but he figured it was just that, you ask twenty questions until you get what you wanted in the first place. "What's the matter?"  
  
"You."  
  
Harry didn't let the pain show in his face, but he did grip his wand tightly until he could think of another question.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Come on, Harry, this is ridiculous! I'm starting to cramp."  
  
"Well then you better hurry!" Harry whispered in his ear.  
  
"I'd rather cramp," Draco muttered.  
  
Harry didn't know what to do. "You don't want to be my friend. . ."  
  
Draco didn't say anything. He stared at the ground beneath his feet and sighed. That wasn't at all what he wanted. Maybe if Harry really was his friend he would know that it wasn't what he wanted. Maybe if Harry really was his friend, his _best_ friend, then he would understand and feel how confused he was right now. Draco didn't know what he was going to do. Draco didn't know what was right anymore. His mother and father said things were right when in his heart he knew they were wrong.  
  
During summer break they were calling Muggle-born wizards, Mudbloods, and Draco stood up saying, "You're wrong."  
  
Lucius raised an eyebrow and took a careful sip of his wine, "Pardon?"  
  
"They're not. . ." Draco couldn't even bring himself to say it.  
  
"Mudbloods?" Narcissa added helpfully. She gave a throaty chuckle and placed a hand on her son's cheek when he scowled. He didn't pull away because she touched him so infrequently. Her flesh was cold and moist from holding her chilled wineglass.  
  
They were on the veranda of the mansion watching the sun dive beneath the horizon line to the other side of the world. They tried to call it family time, but it really was just trying to sophisticatedly soak up the last of the summer sunlight while drinking themselves silly on expensive wine. Draco had long since given up trying to tell his parents that he didn't like wine; he drank it with his breath held as it gagged him. When he burped, it tasted heavily of wine and made his eyes water. He desperately wished for a simple glass of whiskey.  
  
"Draco, dear, it's what they are." He watched his mother move from him to lean against Lucius' lounging chair and drink daintily with one hand while the other fluffed her blonde hair.  
  
"It's that Potter boy, isn't it?"  
  
"What?"  
  
Narcissa glanced from her husband to her son and decided that this was something she needed to stay out of. She perched herself on her own cushioned chair and drank her glass while turning to random pages of her favorite book.  
  
"What exactly do you two do together all the time, Draco?"  
  
The boy set his glass down and crossed his arms. He knew about the kiss. Oh Merlin's Beard, he was going to get whipped, hexed, or something even worse. Lucius took this as a silent "yes" to his suspicions.  
  
"Men were not meant to bed men, only women. If they were supposed to then both sexes would be able to have children."  
  
Narcissa cleared her throat and glanced at Draco. He couldn't read her eyes but he thought he saw disappointment embedded in the slate grey orbs. He would have thought she would be happy, she had confided to Bellatrix that she had always wanted a daughter. Maybe it was a big deal.  
  
Maybe this was just something else that his parents were wrong about, just like the ditty about _Mudbloods_.  
  
Draco was shaken from his thoughts the moment Harry asked him if he were listening to him. He had been thinking of that horrible summer evening the whole time Harry was talking.  
  
The blonde glared at Harry, "Un-jinx me or so help me you'll regret this ever happened."  
  
Harry bent over so that their faces were level. Harry had always been a little taller, but he'd had a growth spurt and was nearly three inches taller than Draco. Very gently, Harry took Draco's face in his hands and whispered, "I already do," before kissing him.  
  
Draco tried to move out of Harry's mouth, but he remembered he was under the Impediment Jinx. He was frozen into a kiss he thought he didn't want. His lips weren't hexed because Harry released them so they could talk.  
  
If so, why wasn't Draco refusing? He could bite Harry, make him bleed, send him away.  
  
Why did it hurt to be on the receiving end of a kiss he wanted so desperately? What were these things that he was feeling? Was he feeling anything at all? Draco was so confused he wanted to cry with frustration, but that would make him a wuss.  
  
Harry turned around and ran down the corridor. It wasn't until Draco could no longer hear the pounding of Harry's shoes on the stone floor did he realize that the boy left without un-jinxing him. He wished the raven- haired boy had because he felt the need to relieve himself.

-----  
  
Hermione Granger finished her last bite of bangers and got up from the Gryffindor table, still drinking the last of her orange juice. "I have to go to the library before class starts." Her housemates grumbled about how she was always in the library. It was true, but Hermione was a girl who found it so easy to forget her problems in the pages of a book. It was a wonderful and amazing tool to figure things out in the puzzle of life.  
  
It was the only thing she felt she could control.  
  
Hugging her bag to her chest, she opened the door to the Great Hall and almost screamed when she turned right into the back of someone. She did a double take after apologizing abundantly and with eyes wide open asked, "Malfoy, is that you?" Her brain began racking a million questions: _Why is he here? Why hasn't someone helped him already? Is he jinxed? Is it the Impediment Jinx? Who did it? Where's Harry?_ Of course, her mouth refused to work and she stood there like a daft cow.  
  
"Granger?" Draco tried to move his eyes around so that he could see her face. It only made his eyes hurt. "Come around so I can see you."  
  
She did.  
  
"Go ahead, make fun of me. I know you want to."  
  
Hermione smiled sweetly as she neared into his line of sight. He almost didn't catch himself as he prepared to make fun of her large teeth. As the bushy-haired girl un-jinxed him quickly without another word he fell forward into her waiting arms.  
  
"I don't want to make fun of you," she didn't think anything of it when Draco pulled away to work out the kinks from his muscles. She didn't think he was the type who liked to be touched. As Hermione looked at Draco closely she noticed his hair had grown longer, to his shoulders and that it was held back with a shiny black ribbon. New or perhaps very well taken care of. She wanted to touch it and feel how soft it was. Like the down behind a kitten's ear. He didn't look happy and his eyes were shiny with moisture.  
  
"Why not?" Draco asked, leaning against the wall.  
  
"Well, why should I?" She asked, pulling on his robes so that she could make it to the library and keep talking to him. It was rather odd, she admitted it, but she was in a Wizarding world and things were not as they always seemed.  
  
"Because I've never had a reason to be nice to you, that's why." Draco snapped.  
  
"I can just put you back where you were, you know." Hermione said as-a- matter-of-factly.  
  
Draco's head jerked around to scan her face. It was unreadable. _Damnation!_  
  
"But. . . I won't. Why?" Hermione asked, Draco nodded his head, "Because Harry wouldn't like it. You're his friend. I honestly don't know why, but you are and I respect that." She turned on her heels at the library's entrance. "Are you going to follow me in or are you going to thank me and leave?" She smiled, "It's your decision of course."  
  
"I'll go." Draco lifted his chin as a small gesture of thanks and left quickly. Hermione cleared her throat and opened her bag to turn in the four thick volumes she had checked out the week before.

-----  
  
_December 24, 1994   
Hello again,  
  
I had a dream that Haven was wearing a pair of frilled robes and rode a broomstick backwards. I woke up and began to look through his things until he yanked me away.  
  
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" He yelled.  
  
"Do you have a pair of frilled robes anywhere in here?" I asked, I don't know why it seemed so important to me at the time, but I had to know.  
  
"What?" The other boys started waking up. It was Saturday and almost six. Haven grabbed his glasses and stared at me for a long time. I started getting very uncomfortable by the time I decided to say something.  
  
"I had a weird dream," was all I could tell him.  
  
Very slowly a smile started forming until he laughed. I never realized how much a laugh could be appreciated until he began laughing.  
  
"Are we okay?" He asked after he'd finally calmed down, holding a pain in his side.  
  
"No."  
  
The laughing abruptly stopped and he slammed his trunk closed, barley missing my fingers.  
  
"I don't understand you!"  
  
"Shush!" I didn't want anyone in the dorm to completely wake up and understand what we were talking about.  
  
"NO! I'M NOT GOING TO SHUSH! I'M TIRED OF SHUSHING! DON'T SHUSH ME!" He yelled. Haven flung himself on his bed and started crying. It was scary how hard he was crying. I thought he was going to suffocate in his pillow or something. I went to his bed, grabbed him, and held him until he quieted down. The other boys had by then completely woken up. I told them simply that his aunt had died. It's a real shame that she didn't because the woman is a complete moron and an all around dog. They gave their respects and went down to breakfast as quickly as they could, leaving us alone again.  
  
"Don't touch me," Haven growled, trying to push me away.  
  
"No."  
  
"You talk a lot of cack. Do you know that? I'm tired of it!"  
  
"You kissed me."  
  
Haven glared at me, "You started it."  
  
"YOU CHEATER!" I was very angry now, "You were supposed to be asleep!"  
  
"WELL I WASN'T!"  
  
I cast a silencing charm over the dormitory. I wasn't going to make another mistake.  
  
"Do you know how difficult this is?" I asked him. He just looked at me and before I knew what happened, he was swinging a fist and I was on the floor. My jaw really hurt.  
  
"You ignore me for five months and make me feel like shite and you have the gall to say that to me?"  
  
"What do you want me to say. . . YOU HIT ME!" I got up and tackled him. He hit the dresser and we went tumbling down in a mess of books and broken glass of the candle lamps that are in all of the dormitories. I got him back for hitting me. We fought until our head of House came up to check on Haven. Obviously, someone told him about my white lie.  
  
We were seperated and served detention until the break where I spent a few days with my family. They never really are ones for celebrating holidays the way Haven's parents are so we had an early Christmas and I am now in Haven's room writing your letter. Christmas Day is tomorrow and I hope from wherever you are. . . you know how much I appreciate you listening to me.   
Delano_

_-----  
_  
"You still writing? Who's the letter to?" Harry asked, jumping on the bed. Draco held his bottle of ink and parchment up off the mattress and shot the boy a nasty look.  
  
"Watch it!" When Harry sat across from him, he finally sighed and muttered, "Old friend, Harry."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Draco didn't say anything. He just folded the letter twice and placed it in an envelope to be mailed later. "What do you want?"  
  
Harry wanted to kiss the blonde; that's what he wanted to do. He couldn't keep his gaze off Draco's lips. They looked soft; they were from what Harry remembered. They were slightly chapped from the cold weather when they went sledding with Harry's parents and two Uncles.  
  
Unlike what most kids thought about the rich Malfoy: he didn't use moisturizer on his lips, they did chap; he was a not a wizard who did not have normal bodily functions; (This usually made Harry laugh) Draco was vain, but not stereotypically so. He took baths with unscented soap and though it was all very expensive and he was greedy with it – he did not smell like a lavender bonny lass.  
  
Harry thought he smelled rather musky but that was, he supposed, the cause of the cologne he wore and not the soap at all. Maybe it was a combination of both.  
  
"You know what I want," he murmured.  
  
Draco shifted on the bed. He would have given anything at that moment to have been able to Apparate. Why was he so nervous?  
  
"I . . . I think it's time for dinner. . ."  
  
"We just ate. . ." Harry wasn't looking away. It was scary. Draco wondered if his eyes were going to itch and water. His always did when he stared for more than ten seconds.  
  
"Ooh, look. . . a Snitch!"  
  
"Why do you act like that?" Harry asked, frowning at Draco's lame attempt to distract him while he no doubtfully would have fled from the room. He stretched his long legs and leaned on his elbows, studying Draco and enjoying every minute of his discomfort.  
  
"You're coming on to me!" Draco exasperated.  
  
Harry laughed, "I'll leave you alone then," He got up and began to walk to the door, secretly disappointed that he hadn't been able to taste Draco a third time. It was only natural to want this, right? They'd been friends for four years; Harry couldn't deny that he thought Draco understood him better than even his Father did. He had no desire to be with anyone if it wasn't Draco. Things were unpredictable with him. Exciting. Quite frankly, the boy came with his own warning label.  
  
He closed the door and winced as he leaned against the polished wood. _Too bad he didn't come with a good first-aid kit to match that warning label._ After their fight last week at Hogwarts, Professor Snape refused to let them go to the Hospital Wing after he was completely sure that they suffered only flesh wounds.  
  
Harry almost screamed when the door opened behind him and he was slammed against the wall of his bedroom. He didn't have time to worry about the pain; Draco was looking him right in the eye, one hand supporting his weight on the wall right next to him and the other closing the door.  
  
"No one can know," was all he said before he kissed Harry. The raven-haired boy didn't argue. He gladly leaned into the kiss, snaking his hands up and around Draco's neck to deepen it. Draco complied and allowed him full access to his open mouth until Harry roamed over his throat and collarbone.  
  
Draco pulled away and repeated himself, "No one can know, Harry."  
  
"No one will," He whispered

-----  
  
**_To Be Continued. . ._**


	3. Spontaneous

**Title**: Human Behavior   
**Author**: Orenji Kaniku   
**Rating**: PG-13   
**Disclaimer**: I don't own Harry Potter   
**Warnings**: Strong Language, slash, and homosexual prejudice   
**Summary**: Ordinary boys, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy meet at King's Cross Station. A seven-year synopsis of yearly events in the house of Slytherin which occur in first hand letters to mothers and complete strangers. Is the struggle to do what's right any different in the Wizarding world than in the Muggle?   
**Challenge**: Part of the Ebony and Ivory Challenge #:11. Voldemort never existed, Harry's parents didn't die, and Harry was sorted into Slytherin. (Lirren), 1. A.U. Harry's sorted into Slytherin and falls for his best friend, Draco Malfoy. (Minnie), 93 Draco can't cope with that fact that he's attracted to Harry. (Carawen)   
**Betas**: Yami27, Liger, and my little sister, Monkey4hirenb. Without you guys, this really wouldn't be half as good as it turned out to be.   
**Notes**: I got this out at three in the morning when my relatives came in and I couldn't get back to sleep. I'm hungry and I really don't think it's polite to make a bowl of cereal when my cousins are sleeping in the living room which is right next to the kitchen. My dog is going nuts because they brought _their_ dog, and it's just. . .knackered.  
I also want to thank _**AnnaMadeLemonade**_ for your lovely review. It made me very happy.  
_**Constance Malfoy**_ for your equally lovely review.   
And _**loveslover**_ for making me smile. It's been very fun and I hope I lived up to your praise and wishes. I'm kind of nervous, putting out this last chapter. . .I hope it is what you expected.  
  
_"They're terribly moody   
Then all of a sudden turn happy   
But, oh, to get involved in the exchange   
Of human emotions is ever so satisfying"-_ Bjork, Human Behavior  
  
_**Chapter Three: Spontaneous**_

**_-------_**  
  
(1995, January)  
  
"Draco! Draco wake up! It's your birthday!"  
  
Draco rolled over, pretending the loud voices were just figments of dreams. He could see pitch black being eradicated by a bright light tinted red beneath his eyelids. It made him wince and pull a pillow over his head.  
  
"GFF AVAHY!"  
  
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!"  
  
"Harry, shut up!" Draco sat up in bed and his nerves froze when Goyle, Naiara, Crabbe, and Oakley were dressed and waiting at the end of his bed. Harry was right beside him with his Muggle clothing that they bought over Christmas when they went to London: jeans, a white dress shirt, and a black jumper.  
  
"Shh! You're going to wake everyone up! It's midnight. If we get caught, we're going to get detention. Have you been to detention? I haven't! Who knows what they do to you in there." Naiara whispered frantically. Goyle, Oakely, and Crabbe had been telling him dramatically frightening stories since their first year, when they received detention the second day for being out past curfew.  
  
"My birthday was yesterday, Potty. You woke me up on the wrong day, you moron!" Draco hissed, ignoring Naiara's neurotic pleas. He soon rolled back over to pretend this was all a terrible dream. He didn't let himself show how much it hurt when Harry didn't even acknowledge his birthday the day before.  
  
"I did not. I just had to keep your present a secret until now." Harry's voice was full of indignation.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Draco sat back up and rubbed his face with both hands, trying to wake up and understand just what Harry was trying to say. The raven-haired boy pulled him out of bed and before he knew what was going on, his shirt was off.  
  
Harry nonchalantly began to dress Draco in his cotton button-up shirt. He answered the question once Draco started doing the buttons. "If you'd hurry up and dress, you would find out soon enough now wouldn't you?"  
  
"You sound like your mother," He was sliding into the jeans and Oakley had pulled a map from the pocket of his robes and began inspecting it with the other boys.  
  
"You had better hurry."  
  
"Why is everyone telling me to hurry? I'm just going to go slower!"  
  
Harry grabbed the black jumper and his robes before they dragged Draco out of their dormitory. A Slytherin seventh year smiled and tipped his bald head to them, his shining blue eyes gleaming with either mischief or weariness.  
  
"Still up, Daniel?" Oakley called.  
  
"Going on three days," he reached for a cup that Harry assumed was coffee or maybe something stronger.  
  
"All the power to you," Naiara waved as they left.  
  
Harry brought the invisibility cloak his father gave him for this occasion. The Marauder's map in Oakley's hands, they covered themselves with the cloak as best they could and began to follow it to a secret passage Harry learned from the twins. A big clump of dots moved across the parchment with their names next to their respective dot on the page.  
  
"Naiara, light," Harry whispered.  
  
"_Lumos_."  
  
"Ace," Goyle murmured, patting the Hispanic on the back.  
  
"Ouch! You stepped on my foot!"  
  
"Don't push me, Crabbe!"  
  
Ignoring the five fighting boys cramped underneath the small cloak, Harry leaned closer to Draco, who was in front of him. "Close your eyes."  
  
"I'll fall!"  
  
"I won't let you fall."  
  
Draco closed his eyes and walked with blind faith that Harry wouldn't let him fall. They walked for a very long time. Harry kicked himself for not thinking of flying to Hogsmeade in the first place. Not much he could do about it now.  
  
"My feet hurt," Draco complained.  
  
"Mine too, are we there yet, Harry?" Naiara scratched his ear and elbowed Goyle in the nose.  
  
"OUCH!"  
  
"SHH!"  
  
"Sorry!"  
  
"We're here," Harry announced after five minutes of silent walking. "You can open your eyes, Draco."  
  
"Done the minute you said we were here. Where are we?"  
  
"You really don't know?" Naiara asked.  
  
"It looks like the Three Broomsticks," Crabbe said, pulling off the invisibility cloak. Naiara whispered, "_Nox_." The light-tipped wand extinguished.  
  
"We're in for some afters. Very expensive so you better enjoy yourself." Harry grinned.  
  
"Red Currant Rum?" Draco asked hopefully, feeling warn all over at the thought of the rum swirling inside his mouth and splashing inside his empty belly.  
  
"I bought three bottles for you."  
  
Draco smiled. Madam Rosmerta, the owner of Three Broomsticks, was at the front door with a mug of hot tea in her hands and a thick set of robes covering her curvy frame.  
  
"Boys, in out of the cold! I've got a fire in the back. Help yourselves to the scones and treats I have in the corner at your table. Happy Birthday, Draco."  
  
Harry's face twisted with jealousy when Draco blushed.  
  
"Thanks Madam." It wasn't her fault she was so pretty, but Harry couldn't keep the resentment out of his voice as he walked in.  
  
All three bottles of Red Currant Rum were placed in front of Draco, as promised, before the blonde could settle down in his chair.  
  
"Drink up, it's not every year you turn fifteen." Harry was taking a swig from a spiked Butterbeer.  
  
"No need to worry about O.W.L.s. Drink, drink, drink." Crabbe ordered before guzzling down his own drink.  
  
"You're not worrying about O.W.L.s, Crabbe." Oakely murmured, grinning into his drink.  
  
Crabbe's bowl cut whirled as he turned to the dread locked blonde next to him. "I study!"  
  
The table roared with laughter. Draco just smiled and poured his little glass to the rim with Red Current. "Ever drank seriously, Potter?"  
  
Harry rose a brow, staring at the blonde from across the table.  
  
"I have," Goyle said, raising a long gorilla-ish arm in the air.  
  
"Who's going to be the designated flyer?" Naiara asked, pointing to the two Firebolts in the corner, a gift from Lucius for both Draco and Harry. They'd arranged for them to be taken to the Three Broomsticks during their last visit to Hogsmeade. "I mean, if you are all going to chug down the ally then I think I should be the one to get you all home safely. Do you know how many broom accidents there are because of intoxicated broom- riding?"  
  
"Gentlemen. . ." Draco said, ignoring Naiara once again, raised his glass so quickly that the red rum spilled over the top and soaked into his robe sleeves. He smiled, getting tipsy after quietly drinking the first bottle of Red Current. Harry and the rest of the table had their bottles or glasses with the drink of their choice ready in their hands, waiting for Draco's signal. The blonde chuckled and drew in a deep breath before screaming, "SNORT!"  
  
They drank bottle through bottle, only stopping to eat a few scones here and there and laugh at each other.  
  
"I tink-drink- I sink. . . shite. . . I think we shoooood ssssiiiiiiing." Goyle slurred.  
  
Oakley stood up, burped, and held both hands under his chin. Harry thought if he wore a wig and fake eyelashes, he'd look like a young heart struck girl. "God Shave the King!"  
  
Crabbe laughed and stood up, they each stood up; and linked arms before swaying and singing:  
  
"Gosh shave our grashus King,   
Gosh live our noble King;   
Gosh shave she King!   
Shend shim vishtorious,   
Shappy ash gloriush,   
Long sho reign over ush,   
GOSH SHAVE OUR KING!"  
  
Harry groaned and rested his forehead on the table. "I feel shocially cabbashed."  
  
Draco grinned and grabbed Harry's left cheek. "Happy Birthday, indeed."

-----  
  
The alarm rang; the boys were asleep on the floor in the dorm where Madam Rosmerta had deposited them in the early morning hours. She had wanted to get an early start on inventory that had been almost clearly bought out from Harry Potter and his friends. She had quite a start when she found the boys asleep on the table and a few on the floor.  
  
She didn't tell Headmaster Dumbledore because she wanted to keep her store. She knew serving underage wizards was against the law, but she remembered the previous owner of the Three Broomsticks, Hawa Galahad. She was a kindly African witch with a heart of gold. She took Rosmerta in without question after she found her wandering the Forbidden Forest's edge one Spring day. Yes, Madam Rosmerta knew that the boys wouldn't be picking up a drink for years to come. She always hated firsthand learning, but she knew it worked the best.  
  
"Turn it off," Goyle groaned.  
  
"Mummy. . . bangers and eggs please." Crabbe snored, rolling over onto Naiara, who yelled and moved from under him.  
  
"My head," Oakley crawled from under Goyle's legs and instantly sat up to vomit out of the window. "Look out below!"  
  
Harry rolled over and felt as if his head were under the foot of an elephant. "Draco?"  
  
"I'm not talking to you, Harry."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I'm in complete and utter torment. Turn off that godforsaken alarm clock before I break it."

-----  
  
(1996, February)  
  
_February 25, 1996   
Old Friend,  
  
He knows. Old friend, my dad knows about Haven and me. He came over with me from school for this past Christmas. We were on the bed and in the moment. We didn't have sex, but we were kissing and touching when my dad came in to call me down so I could greet my Aunt. He froze there, in the doorway. All three of us did, actually. He turned red and started yelling at us.  
  
"What are you doing? Get away from him!" Haven jumped away from me and started buttoning his robes.  
  
"Sir!"  
  
"Don't talk to me! Delano, downstairs now! I'm owling your parents, Haven. You'll be Flooing home immediately."  
  
"Dad!"  
  
He turned to me, his stare venomous. "NO! Don't talk to me. You've done enough." I think that was the first time he genuinely hated me.  
  
Needless to say, Haven went home not even an hour after that happened.  
  
On Christmas evening, his parents came over through the Floo Network and tried to talk to my dad. I listened with a pair of Extending Ears that Haven got me last Easter from his friend's workshop.  
  
"You can't separate the two boys, Lucian!" Haven's mother, Lisa, sounded like she was holding both hands out.  
  
"That's exactly what I can do. I'm not raising a chutney ferret!"  
  
I started getting mad.  
  
"They love each other!" Lisa yelled. I know she wanted to hit him and I really didn't blame her. She's a redhead and though she is very gentle- natured, she's still a redhead and they've got the bad rep for being very hotheaded. She is.  
  
"Love has nothing to do with this, it's wrong is what it is!"  
  
"What's wrong is that you hold your son in contempt for something he has every right to." Haven's dad, Jake, sounded like he made a move for my dad and Lisa yelled at him.  
  
"Jake, enough! Violence won't solve anything. The point is, how are the kids going to learn to live as respectable and good people if they aren't allowed to live pass prejudices and fears of their fathers?"  
  
"I'd rather Delano be the scum of the wizarding world if it meant he wasn't a shirt lifter."  
  
"How can you talk about your son like that?"  
  
_Yes_, I thought,_ it seems to come so naturally.  
  
_"I am a wealthy wizard, Mrs. Powell," He sounded weary.  
  
"Yes, I know that," She sounded equally fatigued, but more polite.  
  
"Then you will know that I have a great amount of responsibility and a great deal of eyes prying into my life."  
  
"Think about closing your blinds?" Jake asked, noting the open curtains in the drawing room. He always had a quick sarcastic mouth and I think that's where Haven got a great deal of his irritating charm.  
  
"Shut up, Jake."  
  
My mum just sat there in the corner on the soft couch with a cup of tea. I don't really think she cares one way or another. In fact, I don't really think she could function if she didn't have my dad as a model. She doesn't have a mind of her own.  
  
They argued for fifteen more minutes and then dad forced them out.  
  
Haven owled me once but my dad took the letter away from me and burned it. He made me watch, said it would teach me a lesson. Before I got on the train to come back for second of term he told me if he made a surprise visit and I was acting oddly, he would take me out of Hogwarts and I'd go to Durmstrang. He looked at my mother, "Even if it means being a distance from home." She's the reason I'm going to Hogwarts.  
  
"Get on the train."  
  
From,   
Delano_

_-----  
_  
Harry studied Draco as he wrote his monthly letter. They had the dorm room to themselves; Naiara was studying in the library with a few Ravenclaws; both Crabbe and Goyle were getting extra potions lessons from Professor Snape, who said he wanted them to pass the Potions final by more than a hair as they'd done the last five years; Oakley was playing Quidditch in the field with his own friends.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
Draco looked up, "Excuse me?"  
  
"Your father hit you because of me."  
  
"Well, yes," Draco agreed, only making Harry feel worse. "But it's the price we pay, Harry. Unless you'd rather us . . ."  
  
"No!" Harry bit his lip and sighed before lying down, his back to Draco. He wouldn't let the blonde see him cry. "I don't want to lose you. Not like Christmas."  
  
Draco sighed and curled up against Harry. He didn't know what to say. "Let's just enjoy the time we have now and worry about them when the time comes. Okay, can you do that?" Harry nodded, not trusting himself to say anything back. He shivered when Draco kissed his neck and nibbled on his earlobe. "Let's take a bath."

-----  
  
"Why does everyone know what they want to be except for me?" Harry groaned. He was skimming through a book entitled: Ministry of Magic: A History. "I don't want to work there! Why am I taking the class?" Draco glanced at the boy in front of him and grinned.  
  
"This is a library, young man." A perfect imitation of Madam Pince, had she been a little more deeper in the throat and a tad bit better looking.  
  
Harry resisted the urge to smile, "I'd watch it, she's got the ears of a mouse."  
  
"I think she looks like a mouse."  
  
"Shut up! You're distracting me!" Harry inched closer to his book.  
  
"Why don't you train Dragons in Romania, with Weasely's brother, Charlie?" The only reason Draco knew about Ron's older brother was because Harry had him and Hermione over for a Christmas dinner before they came back to school. He had to admit, the two knew how to have fun. They were having afternoon tea as always and had given both Harry and Draco Nose-Biting Tea Cups. Draco rubbed his nose unconsciously  
  
"That's a thought." Harry noted, nodding his head. "Good thing I'm still taking Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid isn't it?"  
  
"If you say so." Draco leaned over and kissed the boy on the mouth.  
  
"Mmm. . . you brushed your teeth after lunch!"  
  
"Fresh breath is an essential in my life." Draco traced a line on his palm.  
  
"I like it," Harry pressed his mouth against Draco's and nearly climbed over the table to get closer to the lad.  
  
The blonde pulled away, grinning and opened a new notebook. "You're a distraction."  
  
"You're a tease!"  
  
"Yes, and I'm so good at it."  
  
"This is a library, young men." Madam Pince hissed, she pointed to the sign that read: Keep Your Voices to a Whisper. This is a Library!  
  
"Yes sir!" Draco saluted, grabbed his books, and ran out of the library howling with laughter. Draco left Harry to calm the old woman down and also to serve his detention because the librarian was so mad she didn't care if it was the wrong student who served the punishment.

-----  
  
"I hate you." Harry whispered as he disappeared behind the black curtains of his own bed. Draco only chuckled and rolled over.  
  
"C'est la vie."

-----  
  
(1997, March)  
  
_March 8, 1997   
Old Friend,  
  
This will be the last letter. I've given you a true account of the things that have happened in my seven years at school. I don't know if you ever read my letters, but it's nice to pretend that someone cares.  
  
I've often wondered, in the big scheme of life, why do people live? Why am I here and what purpose do I serve? I want to work at Gringotts and that's only because I like money. Even now, it seem so shallow.  
  
Everyone knows.  
  
Everyone stares.  
  
The professors tried to keep it a private thing, but the man that I called father seemed to think it wasn't enough. I had to be publicly humiliated in order to leave Haven. I've always looked out for number one, me. I've got three months of school left before I graduate.  
  
Someone caught us kissing after dinner and word spread that we were together. Two best friends. A select few swooned with delight, there are a lot of romantics in this school. There are also a lot of homophobics. We decided to put up a low profile.  
  
During the last trip to a village outside of the school grounds, my father met us at the edge. Ironically a number of students were nearby and he told me to kiss Haven.  
  
"What?" I could feel Haven shift uncomfortably next to me. I wanted to hold his hand and reassure him somehow, but it wasn't the time for that.  
  
"You heard me. Go on and kiss him." He knew I wouldn't. The crowd began to thicken, I was looking for Haven's two friends but remembered they weren't coming because they wanted to have time to themselves. They weren't dating but I understood they had a fancy for each other. Smart. Not so lucky on our account.  
  
"Did you hear me, boy?"  
  
Haven was frozen.  
  
"Not going to do it, are you?"  
  
I didn't answer. I was so mad I couldn't speak. I kept thinking,_ How dare you bring him into this? How dare you_. But I couldn't say a thing.  
  
"Get out."  
  
"I'm your father. You had better listen to me when I tell you to do something. Do you understand me? You have the nerve to kiss him in my house? Take off his shirt like a bloody sausage rider?" He didn't smile when a few third years sniggered, "No, I'm not going to just sit back and let you ruin everything that I worked so hard to build for you. You're going to learn the hard way."  
  
"I don't want it."  
  
Professors Seth and Mabel, the two professors responsible for the students during the trip were making their way to the front.  
  
"What's the meaning of this?" Professor Mabel demanded, her little eyes were burning with aggravation behind her spectacles. Her stern face and tight bun wouldn't be enough to intimidate my father. My head of house, Professor Seth gave us a look and turned, stone-face to meet the equally hard grey stare of my dad.  
  
"I'm just teaching my son a lesson. You can go back to babysitting your flock and let me take care of my son."  
  
Haven gave Professor Seth a forlorn glance and hung his shoulders even more.  
  
"If you're to teach your son a lesson it will be in the privacy of either your home or my office inside the school. Those are your only two options, Lucian." Professor Seth said softly.  
  
Professor Mabel clapped her hands, making everyone jump and told everyone to leave. "This is not a show, children! If you have no business in this side of the village you had better move on about!"  
  
My dad glared at Professor Seth and left, but not before giving me one of the dirtiest looks I'd ever seen in my life. I'm kind of afraid to leave for Easter break.  
  
All in all, Haven didn't understand why I didn't fight back, but I think he just asked me that in our fight because he was as scared as I was.  
  
Days went by painfully fast. The students haven't forgotten. Haven seeks refuge in his bed or in the potion's office with Professor Seth. I admit I'm kind of jealous but, I'm the one avoiding the guy like a skin rotting disease.  
  
A guy can never win, at least a gay one can't.  
  
I take that back.  
  
No one ever wins.  
  
I just don't understand. How much can a person be allowed to miss someone until it becomes an unhealthy obsession? I never thought it was possible to miss someone and still be right next to them. Hear someone talk and not understand a word they're saying.  
  
I feel infinite in a bad way.  
  
I'm not telling you this to make you worry. I just need to see it on paper and send it away with Hera. I've become quite fond of her. Give her a piece of bread with margarine on it when you get this?  
  
For the last time; have a good life,   
Delano_

_-----  
_  
Draco sighed and without Harry's handkerchief, beckoned Hera down onto his hand. He let her kiss him with her beak and fed her a treat before he shooed her away. As he always did when he sent Hera off on a mission, he watched her until he could not see her tiny speck in the sky any longer.  
  
He didn't leave until a fourth year Hufflepuff came in with her letter. She stared at him for three seconds and forced herself to look away. Draco rolled his eyes and strolled out of the owlry with his hands in his pockets.  
  
The weather was warming up a bit and he enjoyed the wind blowing through his shoulder length hair. It wasn't in a ponytail today because it would be windy. He liked it when the wind tossed his hair.  
  
He made it to the Great Hall for breakfast as the kids started shuffling in talking and yawning. He didn't sit next to Harry anymore. In fact, they sat on opposite ends of the table now.  
  
Sometimes Draco would feel the prickling of a stare and turn just in time to see Harry turning away. The blonde knew Harry was mad at him for treating him as if everything they'd gone through had been for nothing.  
  
Thankfully, when Harry decided they needed to talk again, he didn't pull Draco from the table by the collar. He watched Draco like a hawk and whispered when he passed by him, "Astronomy tower at midnight."  
  
Draco didn't nod or turn his gaze, he kept listening to Naiara talk about how Professor Snape told him that he was to see him in the office after class. He was nervous and chatting a mile a minute.  
  
Harry never went to the Slytherin common room after last class. He went straight to the library, to dinner, and after that he went to the Astronomy Tower to think about how the evening would go through.

------  
  
The Slytherin sighed, catching sight of the dog constellation his Uncle was named after. Uncle Sirius never really knew where the constellation was until Harry took it in his own hands to look it up and inform the man.  
  
That day at Hogsmeade sent him to Professor Snape's office devastated. He found, to his surprise, that he did not cry as he sat in Snape's chair across from him telling him exactly what had happened. It hurt so much he wanted to lock it away. That's just what he did. Harry attended classes and studied for his N.E.W.T.s and ate his meals.  
  
Harry shifted, his left bum cheek had fallen asleep. Draco stopped talking to him after his father left a second time. He was waiting in the Headmaster's office, strange because Lucius hated Dumbledore. They wouldn't let Harry in on the conversation and he argued that he was part of it and had every right to know what was going on.  
  
"He's family!"  
  
"That may be, Potter, but I can't do it. It's a matter between Mr. Malfoy and his father. I'm sorry." Professor McGonagall looked genuinely sorry, she really did.  
  
"That's okay." Harry didn't allow himself the luxury of sulking, just in case Lucius came out and saw him in his misery. He wouldn't give Malfoy Sr. the satisfaction of knowing he'd broken him.  
  
Hermione and Ron tried to cheer him up with jokes from Ron's brother's shop, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and Ron even made himself furry. Harry just smiled and nodded. They didn't give up, they spent weekends together playing games and studying, anything to get Harry's mind off of Draco.  
  
Harry didn't know he'd fallen asleep until he felt a gentle nudge on his shoulder.  
  
"Harry,"  
  
"Mmf. . ." Harry groaned and rolled over to the side.  
  
"Harry, wake up!"  
  
"What?" Harry sat up and scrubbed his eyes like a grumpy child and stared at Draco. "Where am I?"  
  
"Astronomy Tower, it's midnight."  
  
"Oh. . ." Harry pondered his, scratching his belly until realization hit him and his eyes widened, "_Oh_!" He sat up straighter and ran a hand through his hair. He cleared his throat and sighed.  
  
Draco rose a brow. "Ready, yet?"  
  
"Yes. I thought you didn't hear me?"  
  
"I'm a good actor."  
  
Harry nodded, it felt so awkward. "I see."  
  
"Is this going somewhere?"  
  
"It depends."  
  
"On what?" Draco stretched.  
  
"What do you want?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Am I wasting my time waiting for you to get over what everyone else thinks about this? Us? Am I wasting time hoping that you're going to wake up and want me back again? I know your feelings haven't changed. I've known you for seven years."  
  
Draco leaned forward, hands resting on the edge of the tower. Everything seemed so small from up here. He felt a little bit important, just a little.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Harry didn't say anything. He didn't want to hit Draco or shove him over the side and say it was an accident. He just sat there staring at Draco's shiny black shoes.  
  
"I love you."  
  
His heart skipped a few beats and began to pump faster.  
  
"But I'm selfish and I can't let things be the way they were. I can be your friend but I can't be your lover. I don't even know if I can manage to be your friend if I can't be your lover, so I don't know if we can even do that." Draco laughed humorlessly. "It's sad. The one time I felt good about something and the one time I actually work hard for something, it's taken away from me. It's enough to make anyone bitter, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, that'll do it."  
  
"So what do we do?"  
  
"Doesn't seem like there's a lot we can do, does there?" Harry asked, wrapping his arms around his knees. He felt helpless and afraid.  
  
Draco shrugged. "I don't know."  
  
Harry smiled for a moment and stood up.  
  
Draco panicked for a moment when he heard movement behind him. He didn't know what to expect when Harry grabbed his shoulder and whirled him around so fast it made him dizzy.  
  
_He's going to hit me_, Draco kept telling himself.  
  
Harry held out his hand and smiled, "I'm Harry Potter."  
  
"Excuse me?" Draco's voice was flat and his mouth open. Harry chuckled and nodded.  
  
"I'm Harry Potter. What's your name?"  
  
"Uh. . . Draco Malfoy."  
  
Harry grabbed his unoffered hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you."

-----  
  
_March 9, 1997   
Delano,  
  
I have been getting your letters and are very proud of the way you handled things throughout your seven years at Hogwarts.  
  
I never owled you a reply because I felt that if you were forced to, you would see the light in the tunnel that you were in without outwardly advice. I was correct, if I can be so bold in saying.  
  
Hera is a fine owl, you chose well. When you didn't give her instructions as to who to give this to, she came to me. She's very smart. Underestimated, I think. A lot of the students usually pick the younger owls. With age, comes wisdom and familiarity. Have you watched her fly? She holds her head up high. The most human animal other than Fawkes. Birds are extraordinary.  
  
The questions we all ask at one point in our life can only be answered with another question, "What do you want out of life?" If you can answer that, "Why am I here?", "What's my purpose?" and such other questions needn't even be considered because with that answer to, "What do you want out of life?" you can unveil so many things that were once unseen.  
  
Good luck on your N.E.W.T.s  
  
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_-----  
_  
_**The End**_


End file.
